" [–]Laqueenlames 3 points 14 minutes agoIt's clear to me that McHale doesn't see Lin in a positive light. That has to be the only reason why Lin continues to be marginalized this way. He has the blinders on and just can't see what the rest of us see.

No matter what Lin does, he just sees the negatives.

Tonight was a winnable game. This criticism has nothing to do with harden. If more responsibility is given to Lin as the primary ballhandler/ facilitator, this team will do well without hurting harden's play king abilities. The rockets need a coach who believes in their key players.

I believe Morey said coaching doesn't necessarily win games but bad coaching can lose games. Coaches are there to just manage the game and not eff up. McHale clearly failed in this regard tonight. His substitution pattern wah bordering on moronic. He not only failed to recognize the best player on his team tonight but also managed to keep him off the court for long stretches in the game. He lost this game. He effed up.

This is no means any disrespect to McHale's daughter passing, but McHale got the sympathy point right now to save his job.

He single handed destroyed the Minnesota franchise by being its GM and then demoted to head coach so he could "enjoy" the players he drafted and traded for. The ONLY good thing he done for the Timberwolves is drafting KG, who is a "punk" of a player but he is still a great player.

Given the Rockets' current standings, McHale's job is safe and he seems to have the support of the organization up to this point. His up-tempo and transition offense is saving his job. As far as player development, he is doing a TERRIBLE job. I give him two years at least at the Rocket's helm.

I hope guys can be a little more reasonable. We are NOT going to win every single game. I said it before the game, Denver is one of the toughest matchups for the Rockets cause they are some similar. Here are some points from this game.

- Team defense wasn't as good as it needs to be against a team like the Nuggets. Some guys were left open, bad rotations, not marking your man etc... I think Lin played a really good defensive game tonight though.

- McHale needs to work on his rotation cause it makes no sense. He needs to give Lin some time without Harden. And he needs to learn that Harden can't save you every day or... any day. (Nothing against Harden, great player.)

-Lin was aggressive in the 4th so it was nice to see that again but a little bit too late. (Not his fault)

-Ball movement was not great tonight, but Denver is a team that can steal the ball easily and beat you on transition so I'm ok with that tonight.

-Transition defense was not that good.

-Need to make those free-throws (everyone).

Little mistakes add up and that's how you lose. I think it was an ok lose. It wasn't horrible or bad. Just small mistakes from coaching staff mainly and from players.

This game will make a GREAT tape game. Watching tapes and going thru all the small things. There is always room to improve.

We are being reasonable. Lin was out too long. Check my link above. You think random fans from every team are being "unreasonable" when they're baffled by Lin being out of the game? This was a winnable game. Denver is not one of the best teams in the NBA, so no use pretending we couldn't win this. Houston could be a 50 win team with the right coach.

McHale was correct to call this 'self-inflicted' loss in the post-game interview. Not on the players but on the coaches.

He simply didn't have good rotation and was unable to see that Harden didn't have it tonight with 6TOs and not run the offense through Lin. Any offensive rhythm when Lin directed the offense was gone because he didn't play long enough. The coaches strategy was simply mind-boggling.

Let Lin be the PG to minimize Harden's TOs. Very simple concept that coaches are unable to comprehend.

Again, I don't think he was "treated" like garbage. Like I said guys. McHale's rotations don't make sense. That is true. However, I don't think Lin was mistreated tonight in any ways, if he was, trust me I would be the first one complaining.

I just think McHale made some really poor decisions in subs and rotations. And I just hope he learns from it.

My theory is -> they do comprehend how good Lin is. They just dont want to see Lin succeed. Read Michael Terrys post above. It reflects peoples thoughts. Here is a bulls fan from Michales link:

Bulls fans:"i just don't understand like i am not even a houston fan. why is harden running the point when lin did such a good job ? why isnt asik in when hes rebounding so well vs the manimal ? why did TD stay in so late after he provided the spark and the offense started to stagnate ?"

Knicks fan:"I feel like the way McHale runs his offense and substitution patterns he has something against Lin. No idea what it is, but he clearly doesn't put him in the best position to succeed. Odd considering he's one of the "Big 3" cornerstone of the Rockets rebuilding effort. Lin also has a very short leash completely contrary to Linsanity where he was given freedom to create, take midrange shots, set up teammates. He's way too often a corner spotup shooter or ball swinger."

Grizzlies fan:"every. fucking. time.

Whenever Lin gets the go ahead to do what he does best suddenly the Rockets do well.

If we blow a lead McHale is like OH DON'T WORRY. Then when it's essentially garbage time Lin goes in and gets free reign and suddenly closes the point gap.

Happened tonight, happened in Dallas, happened pretty much every fucking time the Rockets lost. Lin is out at the most crucial times."

That is not the only thing you disagreed with jp. You wrote almost a thousand words (your recent posts) to spread the blame across the team - you said that people shouldnt be upset about the coaches. Yes - the team isnt perfect but the fish stinks from the head down. Head -> coaches.

Also - the word "garbage" might be too much but - Lin is the starting PG and McHale has treated Lin like the fifth wheel on the car. Dont you see it? Cause other fans and other coaches do see it.

I personally dont use the word garbage. Id rather see Lin as Cinderella of the team. He is the prettiest girl of all but his stepsisters get the better treatment while he is being bullied.

I said small mistakes mainly from coaching staff. Again I don't know if you have read past posts that I have made. Has McHale treated Lin like trash before? YES HE HAS. I'm talking about TONIGHT. The last 3 games there is nothing to complain much about and suddenly for people to say that Lin was treated like trash (others have said that) it's just absurd. He wasn't. Has he in past games? Yes, and I have said it countless of times. This is an analysis of "tonights" game.

- misusing your PG and not let him do his job- allowing your worst iso players to iso OVER AND OVER- benching your best defensive player when your lead got erased- wearing out your star player (harden)- going small when you need to make defensive stops

jp2123 *IS* suspicious. S/he could be related to McHale or Sampson. In basketball speak, McHale - again - did treat Lin like a garbage. We all know that "garbage" is a figurative term in BB for treating a starter like a backup without a good reason. I've noticed CONSISTENTLY that whenever Douglas plays well (like he often does, as do many other backups in the league), Lin doesn't go back in (unless sometimes when both of them are on the floor) UNTIL the lead evaporates. Lin has often been subbed for a long periods of time *WITHOUT* any good reason, while other starters have never been treated that way this season by McHale or Sampson. That is, they have often kept Lin out for long stretches UNTIL Douglas messed up pretty good or the opponent went on a huge run (The coaches had done this extensively until the mid December Spurs game, but they apparently were forced to cut down the practice..... but it they did it again this time). For example, in this game, McHale kept Douglas in because he played well, but he played for 9 minutes and 25 seconds straight UNTIL the Nuggets took over the lead and the lead was about to widen.

McHale substituted Lin with Douglas with 7:07 left in the 3rd quarter when the Rockets were leading 68-64. Even though the Nuggests took over the lead 49 seconds into the 4th quarter (86-87), it wasn't until another 1:29 of playing time had gone by and trailing 86-88 AND simultaneously the ball had just turned over, that Lin was finally allowed back on the court. At the time Lin re-entered, the Rockets were trailing by 2 points and the Nuggets had the possession of the ball. The 6'10" Gallinari quickly made a 3-point jumper; just 7 seconds later, another TO by the Rockets (not by Lin) and another 3-point jumper by the same Pizza (86-94). The Rockets never recovered after that.... I knew all this roughly but I checked to get the facts exactly right.

Including the 2+ minute break between the third and fourth quarters, Lin sat for a very long time, getting out of rhythm and his muscles being allowed to tighten up. Douglas was treated like a starter, while Lin was treated like a backup (like a "garbage").

Obviously there are a number of trolls here masquerading as Lin fans pretending to critique "unbiased". Carmelo/Woodson/Sampson/McHale lovers/relatives/friend? And at the same time Lin-haters. Some of them want to be able to post here whenever they want, so they are trying to be "moderate", but they fail miserably.

Until Jeremy plays an ENTIRE SEASON as a REAL POINT GUARD, I won't be convinced that McHale's attitude or approach has changed. This night just shows you how little he (and maybe Morey) believes in Jeremy's abilities.

Let me clarify: I believe that McHale and Morey really like Jeremy as a PERSON. They just don't believe he is anything close to a Top 5 or even Top 10 PG. So they look for any excuse to "take the pressure" off him.

So long as McHale is allowed to coach, I don't see how this season can be salvaged. Jeremy will be marginalized, derided and wasted and the Rockets would be extremely lucky just to get swept in the first round as an 8th seed.

Mchale does like jeremy as a person that's why he always says jeremy is a good kid. Get out of here! That's all u can say abt yourPG during post game interview?isnt that insulting to jeremy? Does he care as a bball player that his coach sees him as a good kid?seriously after a loss?

I'm starting to believe that McHale has a mental block to see that Lin is the best orchestrator of HOU offense and he was a key player who needed to play a lot of minutes tonight in order to win this game.

EVERYONE now knows that McHale substitution pattern and misuse of Lin and Harden is incomprehensible. Even CF forum are enraged with McHale's benching of Harden, Lin, Asik in the beginning of 4Q/not bringing back Lin sooner/playing TD too long.

On the night Harden struggled (6 TOs), why not let Lin play PG?McHale made both Lin and Harden look bad.

Coaches got the credit in Utah win and coaches should take the credit for this loss.

Why ran the PG plays through Harden (6 TOs) when he struggled so much?Ask Lin to be the PG and pass it to Harden or others.Why is this so difficult to comprehend for the coaches?

Why made Harden look bad when he didn't have it tonight?

This loss is not about Harden vs Lin. This is clearly a failed substitution pattern and mismanagement of Harden and Lin. For once, I'd like to hear McHale takes responsibility for the loss. It would go a long way with the players. He made both Harden and Lin look bad.

You're way too optimistic. If they were able to see the obvious, tonight's "Linsult" would not have happened.

There's no reason to believe anything will change. It might. It might not. We've been here a dozen times in the first half of the season alone.

Les is in a bind -- he can't fire McHale because of his painful personal tragedy. That is much bigger than basketball obviously, but he clearly is doing a horrendous job and hurting the career of a dozen young men.

Very frustrating for Jeremy and every other player not named Harden or Parsons.

It's a positive because this loss definitely put the spotlight on the coaches baffling strategy because they were leading in Q3 but sat Lin for too long and then everyone saw how well Lin played in 4Q.

It might be necessary evil to rally media and fans pressure to demand changes. It will give more ammunition for Calvin Murphy to reiterate his comment to let Lin play PG.

But I agree that it might not be enough to change McHale's mind to trust Lin as full-time PG. The players might have to get stuck in this growing pain with the coaches this season. Very sad considering they can get this win in Denver tonight.

@Kenoshi 11:57PMI agree. Harden has pulled off some crazy 4th quarter plays (despite being tired or sick) consistently throughout this season so it's natural to think he might be able to do it again. But as recent games have shown, defenses are dialing in on Harden and he's not always getting calls anymore. McHale needs to be ready to let Lin take over, especially when he's playing so well. If McHale practices what he says about feeding the player with the hot hand, he should have put Lin in earlier in the 4th.

I hope people can lay off Douglas though. He really played well and made things happen through his hustle. He did deserve more minutes. The problem is that he should have got some of Harden's mins rather than Lin's. It's not really his fault that the coach played him way too long. Not Harden and Parsons' fault either for having to play 40+ mins every game. Them sucking on D is inexcusable though but why would you put the effort to play D when your coach never got on you to do so lol?

I've been pondering for a long time how to demonstrate that there is public pressure on McHale that comes not just from Asians, because CF and David Hardisty[1] try to dismiss all criticism as such.

I think screenshots of Reddit game threads are an elegant way. They demonstrate that fans from a broad cross section of teams all think McHale is using Lin retardedly and this fan heterogeneity is obvious at a glance because 1) peoples' user accounts have team flare next to their comments, 2) there's a ton of teams' fans represented, and 3) the comments regarding Lin's misusage have a lot of votes.

How long do you want jlin fans ti be patient?until jeremy himself would give up on his coach?the reactions and feelings of the fans here have been present since game1.same frustration every single loss.after more than half the season played and we've watched, mchale hasnt learned or he refused to learn bec in his mind, he is stuck with the idea that jeremy is not a good PG.i know patience is a virtue but that only works when the person who is waiting is really waiting for something possible. In the case of mchale learning from mistakes, that is waiting for the impossible bec mchale has no faith in jeremy.I

I don't understand why people seem to label me as if I'm too patient or not a "real" Lin fan. Have you seen my posts here? I have been really outspoken when Lin was TRULY mistreated. However, I can't lie and say that tonight was the same situation as it was before. Like I said, McHale rotation was really bad. That doesn't mean that he mistreated Lin or treated him like garbage. That's all I'm saying.

I think McHale may treat Lin the way he treated Kevin Martin and Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic, which is to say in an old-fashioned discipline and bondage way.

So, by his standards, he's being fair.

There's a couple problems, though:

1. The world has moved on. Research and modernity has revealed that those are NOT the best methods for improving peoples' abilities the fastest

2. He doesn't treat Harden this way. He never punishes Harden for a mistake. So, apparently, there is a level of respect he can have for you that makes you immune to punishment. It turns out he's not different from other coaches, just more ridiculous.

Here is something that should help you understand why people think Lin is being mistreated...

If you are a leader of some sort - you are responsible for all your people. If you keep making the same mistakes again and again - you are responsible for the consequences and losses that your people suffer.

You have agreed that McHales sub patterns and decissions dont make sense. In addition to that I claim that he simply does not recognise peoples talents.

Now - there are a bunch of young people whos careers hang in the balance. McHales screwups will have negative effect on the careers of all players. Maybe it wont affect Hardens career so much but how about Lins?

If you keep making mistakes and hurt peoples feelings and careers you basicly mistreat them. How about Lins confidence, his reputation and his market value?

When Dantoni felt that he was the problem - he walked away to give the team a chance to move on. It seems that McHales doesnt even realise that he and/or his coaching staff are the problem.

Prove:

The team does better whenever Lin plays PG. Even Hardens TO go down while his effeciency goes up. And yet - Lin does not play PG all the time. He is forced to play other positions while other people take over his job - thus making Lin look bad. Whos fault is that?

In addition to that they keep on cutting into his minutes so that TD or even Beverly can play. WHY WHY WHY do they do that? Because they dont trust him. Because they dont want him to look good or succeed. Or - maybe because they are dumb or blind and dont see Lins talents.

Either way - they mistreat him.

Can this be resolved? Yes - either McHale leaves or he learns quickly. He must understand that Lin is to be treated respecfully. Only then Lins teammates will respect Lin. Lin has to be the number one PG option. He must be allowed to play healthy minutes. He must be allowed to play through mistakes. They must not punish Lin more than they punish any other player (benching, yelling).

Again - I like TD. TD should not just play when Lin rests. He should also play WITH Lin. Harden should play less. I like him but 42 minutes are ridiculuos. Besides - when you are behind in 4th you should not play the guy with the most minutes, the worst D and most TOs. How does that make sense?

Trust me I have lost patience with McHale enough times already. However, he did ok in the last 3 games and I still don't think he mistreated Lin tonight. I understand what you are saying willy and I get frustrated too. But because of the last 3 games I'm willing to give McHale the benefit of the doubt and that he will learn, hopefully sooner rather than later.

And yes McHale has mistreated Lin before, I just don't see any way he was mistreated in the last 4 games. Can we just agree that it was bad rotation by McHale but that he hasn't "mistreated" Lin in the last 4 games?

McHale just doesn't seem to have the right temperament to be a head coach. He's not a good judge of talent, he's cannot communicate well, his decision-making is possibly the worst in the NBA, and his coaching and decisionmaking deterioriates in close games. IT's like he freaks out, finds a scape goat, takes him out (Lin), and puts in a spark plug that will save the game.

Thats something I never understood KHuang (you rooting for McHale as coach).

I understand he was a great player but that does not make you a great coach. Good students dont always become great teachers either.

Like I always say - I dont expect much from that Rocket team but at least I want to see some progress. I think that the players are developing but Im upset because the coaches keep on making the same mistakes. Read the reactions from the link above (Michael Terry post). Even people who root for other teams wonder why Lin is being "abused".

Even the "low" assist total is a joke. Several missed layups/dunks (as usual) and a host of great hockey assists. Only one 1 TO as well.

I didn't even mind Jeremy getting an early hook in the 3rd. He was playing well but took one dumb drive/layup -- might as well set him straight and give TD some early burn. That way, you can play Jeremy all 4th quarter right?

Wrong. After the Lin-less Rockets played like crap, TD redeemed himself with two great steals and buckets. Yay! Game saved. Go out on a high note, right? Wrong again. That apparently bought him five more minutes of bricks and poor defense and ball movement.

And then he subs Jeremy back in. Jeremy singlehandedly brings Houston back into it, but it's not enough. And of course, Jeremy will be blamed as much as anyone for the loss ("He should have made all of his FTs!")

Same here.It's not just the coaching but that whatever he has against jeremy.if anyone believes that mchale is not sabotaging jeremy's nba career,then i would dare sat you are not a true jeremy fan. Sorry but that is my opinion.

You shouldn't give him a pass for benching for one bad physical play. No one can make perfect decisions all the time. Getting benched for not being perfect is incredibly demotivating and disrespectful. It never happens to players that you think can be stars one day. Punishing is not good teaching.

Though I'm sure it's not personal -- McHale and Morey probably love Jeremy as a PERSON -- they just don't believe he's a high-quality PLAYER.

It's baffling. I can understand mistakes at the start of the season -- he's coming off surgery, Harden had monster games, etc.. But now it's clear to everyone with half a working brain that Jeremy needs to play 35mpg as a true point guard.

Oh I agree, Michael, I'm just saying how could I *understand* the decision from the point-of-view of an old-school alpha-male coach who wants to set young players straight. I don't agree...but I've seen other coaches do it to talented guys.

But McHale benching Jeremy to start the 4th makes no sense at all...unless he truly has no faith in Jeremy as a starting PG.

I followed how McHale took a SCRUB like Goran Dragic who was on his way out of the NBA and bullied him into winning that $32 million contract.

I knew that McHale would bully Jeremy Lin into shoring up his game. I never believed that McHale would be "fair" to Lin, and I expected repeated yellings and benchings. I also expected Lin to toughen up and become a player that could succeed against any type of opponent.

OK. At this point, McHale has bullied Lin into being a top point guard - in my opinion, the BEST in the entire NBA. Now it's time to PLAY Lin, not bench him.

I was a fan of McHale getting Lin to where he is now. To a lesser extent, McHale has presided over all the other players improving too. While most of that is directly and solely attributable to Lin, McHale IS the coach that allows Lin to make guys better. So McHale deserves some credit for helping guys like Asik and Morris and Patterson and Parsons actually improve their game, largely due to Lin's oversized court presence.

It appears to me that McHale is the right coach to improve players to the point that they can compete with the best, but he's NOT the right coach to make in-game coaching decisions against top teams.

Khuang: This budget team started off the season with a bang and McHell/Sampson made sure the winning stopped by micro managing the team to death. The team didn't benefit from McHell's coaching. Rather, the players are saving his job.

Furthermore, I do not dislike McHell. I just think he's a horrible manager. You, on the other hand, worship McHell and is the least objective person on the board when it comes to forming opinions on the man.

You dont make sense at all. We have had that debate. Even "tiger moms" dont work the way you say. Bullying and the yelling can only lead to children who either commit suicide, loose confidence, become mentally and emotionally crippled or pornstars. This is not how you make people better.

I am chinese. I know what Im talking about.

You constantly claim it but where is the prove that yelling and bullying made Dragic better? JLin was on the way out. Then there was Linsanity. Did Dantoni yell and bully Lin to Linsanity? Please elaborate - which aspects of Lins game has McHale improved?

I had THE WORST Tiger momS of all time, two of them because my grandmother was just as physically violent as my own mother. Whatever tiger moms you guys can think of, MY two Tiger moms have them beat in curse words, choice of weaponry, viciousness of attacks, intensity of violence, spirit of vengefulness, ancestral hauntings, etc. . .

Thus I have this immune skin to yelling and bullying. I just take what I need and keep moving on.

As far as getting better, McHale has demanded that Jeremy Lin cut down on turnovers and shoot better from outside. While I am not so simple as to attribute those improvements to McHale, I at least am pleased that McHale demanded that Lin work on those aspects. Now Lin has gotten those things down.

I'm OK with you guys bashing me for being a McHale fan. Keep in mind that I was OK with McHale bashing Lin around until he got his game right. But I'm NOT OK with McHale benching Lin like he did this game. It's not good for McHale or Lin for Lin to play this little.

And thats OK. I undestand that you sometimes sub for players who are fresh. That however doenst explain why he doesnt take out the gassed ones.

E.G. why not benching Harden for a change? No - Im not criticising Harden. I just think that he shoudlnt play 40 minutes a night. It cant be healthy - it cant be good for Harden. Also - he has no D and turns it over...

Very deserving but the loss sure doesnt make him happy. Although jeremy knows that as long as he played team bball, gave his best, he can accept the results. The only bad part is, he has no control of other factors to make the fight a real fight .it is like mchale has the gun and has the bullet ( jeremy) but wont fire it.the better thing to do, do what trump does best....FIRE mchale!!!!!

I think McHale has showed exactly why the Rockets should not keep him, and why they will not make the playoffs, or make it far in the playoffs with him as coach. He doesn't know how to coach in moments like these.

There should be a show on NBA TV that nitpicks coaches.

"Self-inflicted" my arse. What a cop out. Be a man and own up to your mistakes!

At this point, there's nothing McHale can do to ruin Lin's career. Even if he, somehow, implausibly, was able to hold Lin down for the next three years, Lin will get a starting point position somewhere they want him. Hell, maybe even NYC.

Also, I'm almost positive this is McHale and not Morey. I've done a lot of Google searches on Morey now. He understands Lin's value and he gets closer to the truth the more data he analyzes and we know the truth is Lin is a difference maker. Morey doesn't tell McHale what to do. Morey isn't the coach. Also, Morey is a little star struck by McHale. Luckily, Les isn't. :)

New here. Just joined cause I got banned from clutch. Like the rest of you, I'm exasperated by Mchae's continued misuse of Lin. Although the first half stat didn't reflect it, Jeremy was playing beautifully tonight, orchestrating and often frustrating Denver's defense. Even with Harden slightly off his game, Jeremy was keeping us in it. Even Denver's play by play guys were marveling at his play.Then came the missed layup in the third quarter, after which Lin was quickly benched with about 6 minutes in the quarter. Tony then came in, provided a large spark getting the lead up to 7 with timely steals. But before the end of third, the lead was cut down significantly as our offense was stagnating. I really thought at this point, McHale was going to start the 4th with Lin to gain the momentum back and calm everyone down. But no, there he was TD who has never proven to be good for long stretches in the game starting the 4th with both harden and Lin on the bench. When the lead quickly evaporated, he brought back harden instead of Lin - the player in my view was playing beautifully tonight. I just don't get it. Jeremy's play tonight was not open to interpretation. He was great period - no other way to look at it unless you already have ingrained prejudices against him as a player. McHale clearly does not see Lin as that transformative player that we see. Heck he doesn't even think Lin should be a starting pg. it's too bad because this was a winnable game. If McHale does one simple thing and that is to let Jeremy be the pg of the team, this team would win more games. Too bad he just refuses to trust Lin. I wish somebody in the media would call him out on it

Same name. I got banned about a month ago. Had a bad day.. That was the day that sandy hook shooting happened. The Rox lost the game because Jetemy was again marginalized in a loss. Went off on the haters. Talked smack about what a buncha loser fans they are for not recognizing talent. Next thing I know, got reported and banned.whatever. I

Caman guys, McHale's biased towards PFs and the concept of a franchise player - he was a PF next to Larry Legend. Can't expect him to grasp the nuances of overall effect of players.

As well, I think we should all unanimously agree that he has a get out of jail free card for this year - yes, let's acknowledge and point out where he royally fucks up in games, and his poor decision-making skills, but let's keep in mind that Sampson probably is the snake in his ear. If all the assistant coaches pointed out his mistakes and spoke up, he might not be as blind.

I'm not trying to be diplomatic here to seem like I'm sensible or that I'm objective, but I really think we need to give him a shit load of leeway for losing a kid. I find it impressive that he can take the time away from his family in the aftermath, and still coach the team (travel, etc). Because, let's face it, if he wasn't here, Sampson would be sandbagging the shit out of Lin, and we'd all be much, MUCH, more devastated.

TL;DR - McHale hasn't been an effectively strategic coach; he shows favouritism that fucks up the Rox' game; he fails to adjust properly - but, in the end, he's suffered from a pretty shitty deal, so let's give him this year as a freebie, and call for him being replaced if he does this again next year.

Well, I think it goes beyond play LIn we win, bench Lin we lose. There's a whole lot more dynamics involved here.

Do you have a sibling that does nothing right, but your parents dote on him? And, another sibling that does everything right, but the parents think he's a loser?

I think there's some of this psychological dynamics going on.

It's not that MacFell doesn't think Lin is a bad player. He just doesn't think he's a winner. Heck, he doesn't think most of the guys on his bench are winners. They are just a lot of pansies who like to pass the ball a lot.

Except for Harden and perhaps Asik, none of the other players on this team fits MacHell's mold of what he consider to be winners.

I'm not totally 100% agreeing ppl saying McHale is treating Lin like garbage. The way he was substituting look more like wanting to save Lin's legs for the late 4 qtr. Unfortunately he doesn't have a true pg to back Lin up. He tried Beverly, but that didn't pan out either. Little by litte McHale is trusting Lin. I also think that benching him here and there will drive Lin more. You don't think McHale knows what drives young players or rookies?

Now Sampson....is another different beast during his short span as coach.

Saving Lin's legs? If Douglas kept on playing well and the Rockets were winning or the score remained tight, you really think McHale would put Lin back in? History and many games before told us no. He would justify it by saying he just went with the hot hand.

You know what, the most frustrating thing about the whole situation is that whether Lin plays in important time or not and how many minutes he plays seem to depend solely on how Douglas plays. If Douglas plays well, Douglas will play longer and Lin will play less NO MATTER Lin plays well or not. Lin seemingly can only get on the court whenever Douglas screws up but he goes out regardless at a certain time. This is also so unlike Parsons and Harden who get their 40 minutes and McHale will try to put them in regardless of the situation, regardless of whether the team wins or not, regardless of they play well or not and regardless of the matchup and the many factors that affect Lin's playing time. In short, only Parsons and Harden on this team are treated irreplaceable stars while Lin is like the most replaceable starter. I can accept Harden but Parsons too? Lol.

I think Lin's stock is actually going up in the eyes of smart opposing coaches like GK. Mac is no good at feeling the pulse of the game. Just doesn't have the feel for the flow. Lin needs a Sloan or GK type coach.

Michael, eb5attorney's real purpose here is to try to flame as many people as he can here without actually appearing to flame people.

In order to confuse people like you, he'll post positive stuff about Lin in order to mask his true intentions and try to win people to his favor. Once he's won people to his favor, he tries to unleash them on people like me that know exactly what eb5attorney REALLY IS:

a guy who loves stirring up Lin fans into bashing each other and laughs from his seat of secrecy.

Asik will need to shed some of his flabby fat first. Increase his athleticism by adding more muscles and strength. But in the end of the day, he must learn how to stay alert, catch, and protect the ball

So now not over/under using Lin is more important than winning? Wow, I don't ever know the Rockets coaches are this considerate. They are not this considerate towards their pets Parsons and Harden though lol. Or you and McHale really think going with Douglas would ever be a winning formula?

Dont you think that Lin has been learning all year? What more is he supposed to learn?

Lin is an incredible PG. He should be able to make use of his talents and shine as bright as he can.

His time in the NBA is limited - that goes for all players. You think he should spent that time with incompetent coaches who dicate his career and future? If it was up to those coaches Lin wouldnt even be a bench player.

I would cut the coaches some slag but they keep pulling the same crap over and over again.

I think elves should stop being so sensitive. First, if you read my post, I said that Mac did not over-use Lin this game, meaning Mac under-used Lin this game; but that when you think about it, it's good for Lin because it protects him against injury and that he can observe the game flow from the side line. I am actually wary of a team trying to put too much pressure on Lin to try to do too much for the team that is not all that good -- at most, Rockets is going to battle for the 8th spot. Therefore, after his first complete NBA season, Lin will have next year to shine. No need to rush this year. Still, Lin is getting 30 to 35 minutes per game -- that's not too shabby and good for his health since this is his first complete season.

When I stated: "I actually like Mac's not over using or under using Lin", I meant in some sense I liked Mac's not over using Lin this game, or in other words, I liked Mac's under using Lin this game for the above reasons. It may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Lin in the long run.

Explain what you mean when you call us Lin fans here are "oversensitive elves", eb5attorney.

I know that your real purpose here is to try to flame as many people as you can and get away with it. I know it's some sort of challenge to you, seeing how many people you can get riled up so that you can laugh at them.

Remember that you may think you're fooling people here, but you're NOT. So explain this "oversensitive elves" thing so that we can see how little you respect people here.

So you take the statement by Mac "and then we decided we were going to do it on our own" to mean Mac did not like that Lin was trying to overcome the lead on his own? If Mac really meant that, he's way over the line there, but I can't be sure that's what he meant.

WTF? Didn't one of the coaches (if not McHale) tell Lin that it was selfish not to take the open shot? Well he did this game, and drove through open lanes to score and this is what McHale says? I really hope for his sake that he wasn't referring to Lin. It's not like other Rox were really hitting their shots during that quarter, plus they were turning the ball over like crazy.

You want to dictate how people think and what people are supposed to say. Why dont you talk about this specific game? You claim Lin had a bad game?`You want us to blame Lin? You claim the coaches were superb? You wanna praise them?

Lin sat from 7:07 of the 3rd until 9:42 of the 4th, or 10 mins... almost a full quarter. And until his insertion in the 4th quarter had only played 22 mins... at that point Toney Douglas had played 19 mins, and Patrick Beverly had played zero minutes.

Prior to the 2nd half Lin played a total of 17 mins. So it wasn't like he needed rest at that point.

And Ty Lawson played from 9:42 of the 3rd quarter until 0:54 and re-entered at 0:46, so it wasn't like McHale was matching them up.

It wasn't like we had another game tomorrow. Playing Lin more minutes wouldn't have been a fatigue issue. And if fatigue is an issue, it doesn't explain playing Harden for 42 mins, or playing Parsons for 38 mins.

Vankenn, coaches got the credit for the brilliant strategy in Utah win but they should also take the credit in losing this Denver game.

There are logical facts to back up this assertion if you watched the game. Other than suboptimal rotation for underutilizing Lin who directed the best offensive rhythm for HOU, they allowed Harden to go ISO resulting in 6 TOs while they should trust Lin (1 TO) to distribute the ball to Harden or other teammates. You can say that they 'allowed' Harden to look bad with 6TOs (many resulting in DEN points off TOs) and not trust Lin as the PG like Calvin Murphy called out.

A big part of coaches job is to adapt the game plan to win the game. They simply did not do a good job tonight.

I've really been patient til now, because I actually caught the game - live on TV , in this part of our world. In the past , I only read in posts here that he was - disrespected , misused , underused , treated like crap etc. etc... But today , I actually witnessed it. And , I must admit , I felt righteous indignation inside me. But what can we do? We're stuck to be mere spectators in this saga.

We can rant all we want in this site or some other forum , and it will not even reach the people concerned.

So ,I guess I'll just pray doubly hard to have the coaches knocked off their senses (by miraculous intervention) and allow him play the way he's supposed to play. Just like JLin himself said , "the man upstairs" can do it. :)

Matchup? Are you people SERIOUS about Lin not keeping up with Lawson and Miller? He fking owned them like slaves today. Guess who let BOTH of them blow past all night? Give you a hint, his last name starts with an H.

Even tho offense wasn't being run through him, he still managed 22pts. Yet time and time again he has proven that when he is PG the team stands a great chance of winning.

But "oh you guys shouldn't blame the coach whenever Rox has a bad game". Whatever.

These people are definitely biased, racist, and delusional. They will never accept the truth even if they see it with their own eyes. They will always find ways to discriminate against JLin. That's why I hope the Jlin Documentary becomes a big hit so that it can open people's eyes about the racism that Jlin had to endure and overcome throughout his basketball career.

Jlin is like the Asian Martin Luther King. He has a dream and a goal to change the culture of the NBA. For people to accept the fact that Asians can BALL and can be just as GOOD or BETTER than the competition.

Aww , you'l feel miserable thinking that it could've been easily won. We were leading until our boy JLin was sat way too long (as if the coaching staff had an episode of dementia there) , paving the way for the opponent to catch up. Way too late , when Jlin was put back in. His 4th qtr effort was valiant though , thus , the nice feedback on his game. Sigh..

Is it possible that Jeremy get specially picked upon by McHale because(a) McHale demands a lot more from his point guards(b) Jeremy earns much more than the rest of the players except for Harden. So he is demanding more accountability.

I dunno,I really hope its not because McHale wears racially tinge glasses and inately disrespect Jeremy...because if its true, then yes McHale needs to go next season because Jeremy will not grow under him.

Some classic Linsanity plays. That steal and going against Iguodala and Ty Lawson at the same time and scoring. And then him splitting the defenders to the hoop. When Lin's playing that hot, how can you not play him more??

And Lin also played excellent defense, giving Ty Lawson absolutely nothing. Only reason why he had double digits was because of the constant fouls at the end of the game, giving him free points. Lin very aggressive going to the hoop (and finally getting calls!) and pushing the pace always. Morey needs to give Mchale a private screening of the winning streak highlight reel again.

I didn't see this game, but Jeremy Lin looked like a Hall of Famer based on these highlights.

Lin was in total control of the game. He owned the court, owned his opponents, owned his teammates, owned his coaches. He was in the zone.

I have repeatedly said that Lin was going to find his swagger and start to put up HUGE NUMBERS after the All Star break. Lin beat me to my prediction, because he's SMARTER AND BETTER than I think he is.

I don't think McHale really believes in Douglas as much as he REALLY believes in Harden. In his mind, he likely thinks whoever is the PG doesn't really matter when Harden is controlling the ball. That's why Lin, Douglas, Beverley are all interchangeable.

If McHale and Sampson don't play Lin enough and don't utilize him properly, they're as good as gone. As it should be.

Play time is over. McHale had his chance to kick and scream Jeremy Lin into shape. Now that Lin is performing BETTER than Lowry or Dragic or any other point guard McHale ever had, McHale needs to unleash this polished weapon he has in Jeremy Lin.

I'm a McHale fan, but enough is enough. If McHale doesn't play Lin properly, then I won't have any sympathy for McHale when he runs headfirst into COACH KILLAH!!!!

Actually I'm getting pretty tired of this crap. If I live in the USA or Houston, I will drive there and yell at the whole coaching staff myself until I can't yell no more. This shit needs to be stopped

Nobody has mentioned this in this thread, but Gallinari was just on fire tonight. He was the spark that got Denver back into the game hitting important shots, like those 2 3-pters with Delfino's hand in his face and that shot from baseline as he was running out of bounds. Then there was Ty Lawson's 3 with Lin closing on him. Miller seemed like he could not be stopped (except by Faried's goaltend, lol). So many times the Rox had lanes open on the right side for easy Denver buckets. Delfino and Douglas bricking 3's.

22 total turnovers by the Rox (only 1 from Lin). Rox players losing handles tonight. Very ugly game. This is with McGee out, too.

Officiating was really weird, too. Bad calls on both sides totally ruining momentum of the game. It was so boring to watch when Lin was out, and I only started watching in the 3rd quarter!